Passat (B5) :: No Start - Brief Electrical Burning Smell
May 9, 2012
I have a 99 B5 v6 Passat TIP. Was doing a lot of driving around today, in & out of stores. Last store of the day go get in the Passat and now it wont start. I did smell a brief electrical burn but was unable to locate the source.
When I try & start the car nothing happens, no crank. The windows locks radio all function.
I am able to lock the car and unlock the car with the key in the door. The alarm arms & disarms without issue.
I have checked the fuses as well as the relays and they seem fine. I have replaced the ignition switch and still the same issue.
I have tried starting the car in neutral as well and no luck there either.
What is the best way to test the switch to make sure my new one isnt bad. Any way to use a jumper wire to attempt to start the car?
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Today, when I returned to my parked car from grocery shopping, I noticed a strong interior electrical burning smell. Like wires burning or similar. When starting the car the yellow warning triangle came on and the hybrid warning message to pull over and park the car. What could cause this? Want to mentioned today was a very hot day 105. Up until today the car drove flawless.
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So I had been smelling an electrical/rubber burning smell on the Ex about a month ago. After a week or so I popped the hood and poked around. This is what I found!
Now I had a no start in May. The shop that I had it towed to checked the wiring harness, replaced the cam sensor, scratched the truck up and ran through 2 tanks of fuel.
I repaired the harness and all is good. What the 3 wires run/go to.
One was solid Gray with a white stripe.
One was solid Black with a yellow stripe.
One was Tan with a green strip.
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2002 Santa Fe V6
Ran the AC yesterday for the first time after a long cold winter. Seemed fine for about 15 miles but then I came to a stop and all of the sudden smelled burning plastic/electrical... white smoke started blowing out of the vents. Pulled over, popped the hood. The smoke appeared to be coming from the passenger/rear side of the engine.
Drove it another 15 miles home (had to) but with no AC or even fan on... made it and noticed the smell and smoke but only very little.
This morning I started it up .. got under the hood and clearly can smell it coming from the same area. That is the alternator at the back of the engine passenger side right? Voltages read fine... seems to be charging ok as well.
The only indicator that it is going bad is of course the smell and smoke... I can feel it is getting very hot.. too hot to touch after only a few minutes running. Spun bearings in it maybe? Just thought I'd put that out there before I start tearing it apart.
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So I was sitting in my car, running, parked with the ac on and out of no where I got an electrical/burning smell coming from the vents. My volts were reading 12 with ac on at idle but once my rpms reach about 7-800 it goes back to 14. My question is what was that smell? I've had 2 alternators go on this car (power draining aftermarket accessories 3.3 v6) and have driven the car for about 2 hours collective time since the problem started (usually alternator goes quick) and haven't noticed any lights dimming, ac blows cold, system still plays full tilt. could a bad compressor be causing putting some stress on the car?
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I have a 2001 Pathfinder w/ ~190K mile on it. It has been used regularly until this past winter. It has been sitting for about 3.5 months and I'm just now getting it back on the road. The battery has been draining due to non-use but I charge it and the car will start. Today I started it and after running for about 2 minutes the engine quit. When I got in the car I noticed the strong smell of electrical burning but no smoke. I did not notice this outside of the car. Upon trying to restart the car the engine just cranks with no sign of trying to start (as if there's no spark). I suspect something (probably electrical) has failed while it was idling but what it could be.
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I turned on my AC in my 94 ford f250 and it made a squealing noise then I started to smell smoke or more like electrical burning. I turned off the AC and the squealing and burning stopped. I found that the compressor was the problem and after pulling the pulley and clutch assembly off I found that the coil had melted or got really really hot and smelled lie it had burned. My pulley and surpentine belt were still spinning fine so what happened? My AC had worked fine a few weeks before this.
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117,000 miles, 1 previous corporate car owner, 30 day warrant. Bought 1 week ago, odor of burnt electrical. Seems to be stronger in the back inside.
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My father in-law gave us a 1996 explorer AWD with a 5.0 for my son who is 16. A couple of weeks later he's out learning with my wife and a very strong electrical smell took over the cabin. They came right home and when I got in I found all of the gauges not working. The instrument lights work, blinkers work, but all gauges do nothing. Pulled cluster and wires look O.K. behind it from what I can see. They saw no smoke, just smell, fuses look O.K.. What could cook on this vehicle that would wipe out just the gauges?
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I'm having some issues with my 99 ranger. It all started on my way to work one afternoon. Going down the road I started to smell some type of electrical burning smell. I looked at my instrument cluster and seen a trail of smoke come up between the steering wheel and ins cluster from under and gear selector covers. After that the O/D off light started flashing and downshifting hard. My pwr windows and dome light also quit working. Checked fuse #26 and all my fuses before going into work that afternoon, all of them were good and none blown. After shift was over that night going home I needed to use the wipers and they wouldn't work either. Also noticed then that my speedo, odometer and trip odometer not working. I've pulled my dash and steering covers off trying to find or see anything but nothing yet.
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So i had a burning oil smell for 2 years. I finally brought it to the shop and had the valve cover gasket changed as well as the chain tensioner gasket. I now have a constant burn smell. It cannot be burn off because when i open the hood i see it dripping on the cat. converter i just cannot see from where. I seems to be right behind the heat shield that covers the edge of the valvle cover. What else could be wrong here?
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A 2000 Passat with the 6 cylinder and automatic transmission. 95,000 miles has a burning smell...especially with the heater on...Changed the oil about two weeks agao ...and now with the heater on the car smells like its burning... You can see smoke coming off the rear of the motor when the engine cover is pulled off. .
Could it be a head gasket?
Could it be a rear seal?
Could it be a valve cover gasket?
Could it be the tranny leaking?
Anything typical of these V6's that might give possible insight? Local car mechanic was looking at the car and said "take it to the dealer" ....
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I recently noticed that my car was starting to smell like oil burning off. Soon i realized that from time to time there would be a bit of smoke form under the hood I looked under the car and noticed that oil is dripping onto the cat but i am not sure from where. There is not alot of room in the back of these engines to see.
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newly purchased 99 everytime i turn on the heat i get a burning smell out of the vents.
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I let my engine oil get way low, got an oil change - fresh new synthetic and filter, now engine gives off burning oil smell after driving. Re-checked oil level several times and it shows "full". Temp never gets over 200 per gauge. What did I do to my engine? and what should Ido to minimize damage?
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I started noticing a burning oil smell a few weeks ago after driving to and from work. Then I noticed drops of oil on the floor in the garage. I wanted to start a consumption test so I scheduled an appointment at my dealer and asked them to look at the leak.
The invoice says they replaced some screws and a bolt near the turbo and cleaned the area. That was Monday. Today there are a few fresh drops and the burning oil smell is back as I drove to work. I made another appointment for Friday. What this could be.?
I'm at 53k miles and glad it's still covered. Just hope they get to the bottom of it.
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Having burning oil smell coming from the V6. Took it to the dealership and they tole me it has an oil leak on the the header then it burns off. It seems to get much worse when the RPM's are some what high. Only 70,000 miles too. Guess its getting to stay that way for a while.
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So i am going to drive to school and going up the hill on my street to turn on the road and i give the car some power as i usually flore it up the hill but suddenly the check engine light pops up and the car doesn't want to go. My foot was all the way down on the gas and i was getting like 3-4 rpm and the car wouldn't even get up to 30mph. so i go around the block trying new things turn off the car and restart it and the same happens so i go back home and park it in my driveway and i turn the car off and get out. I smell something burning from the car so i pop the hood and check underneath the car but no smoke just and intense burning smell. I don't know what is wrong the car just had the recalls done a week ago and this is the first thing that ever happened like this to the car. Has this ever happened to you? What do you think is wrong with the car?
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2004 V6 XLE Power Steering Leak *pics* ... The problem now? Car doesn't start. I've done all the 'usual' checks and I am totally baffled.
So I was dropping my friends off at night. When I had the car in reverse to get out of the parking spot, turned off my AC and drove to park my car on the road. My ears heard something 'different' from my engine, like a 'wurrrrr' noise. I first thought it was my power steering pump was making noise (see my previous thread why). I pulled on the side of the road this is what happened.
I open my hood to determined my fluid for PS was OK. I noticed a 'burning' smell like something rubber was burning or metal getting super hot. I turned my car off and restarted the engine. The car cranked but it crank very slowly, lights dim and it started almost like a weak battery. Maybe battery? The 'wurrr'/buzz noise was coming from the belts area and was RPM related. Car did rev fine without any hesitation. [URL] ....
As I had the car on for a minute to take a video (below), I was in my car when I noticed light smoke coming from the right side (drive belt) area. I immediately turned off my car and attempted to see where the smoke was coming from.
After 10 minutes, I wanted to see if it would still start. Nope. Just rapid clicking of starter (See : [URL] ....)
It was dark so I couldn't do much (iPhone w/ flash light app), but I did check all what I could above and below the engine. I didn't see any burn wires or grounding either. So I was thinking...
-If AC or Alternator seized up/locked up, the car would still start but belts would burn, right? Same with power steering?
-Timing belt torn or tensioner sized? If belt torn, engine would crank freely though? Tensioner would usually just make a bad noise, right? Wouldn't really account for the 'weak' starting prior I think?
-Electrical problem such as a short within alternator/ac compressor....
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My 2002 1.8 t has a leaky camshaft seal. The shop where I take the care insists that I should take care of it since it can cause some damage to other components. Another very trusted mechanic has told me that it is only a nuisance and the worst thing that can happen is that I would occasionally smell some burning oil inside the car when the HVAC is not in recirculating model. He also suggests using some engine cleaner and degreaser and that would take care of the problem. I think the seal leaks less than a teaspoon a year. The engine uses ZERO oil in between changes.
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My 2003 Passat has a noxious smell when I pull up to a parking space or sometimes when I stop at a light. It smells like burning oil or exhaust, but not all the time. The repair shop has replaced the oil pan, which was dented (by my 18-year-old son), replaced axle seal, and have replaced a broken and leaking PCV hose, but that has not solved the problem, and the don't know what else to do.
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